The present invention relates to a quick connect and disconnect coupling assembly for coupling a dynamometer to an engine wherein the coupling assembly may be used for both automatic and manual transmission engines.
It is common to connect an assembled engine to a dynamometer through a connecting coupling for performing various types of testing on the engine prior to installing it in a vehicle. Since several engine models are normally built on an assembly line, including both manual and automatic transmission engines, there exists a problem in matching dynamometers to particular engine models because the connecting couplings are normally set up such that they will only accept one engine at a time. If the dynamometers and connecting couplings are set up such that they will accept only one engine model, some dynamometers may go unused for lack of particular engine models on an assembly line while stacking up of assembled engines can occur at other dynamometers. Thus, there has been a need for a coupling assembly which is not restricted to a particular engine model since it is not economically practical to stock a coupling connection for each engine variation at each dynamometer.
Accordingly, a principal object of this invention is to provide a coupling assembly which permits a universal coupling arrangement such that several engine models may be quickly coupled and tested at a single dynamometer. Further, another object of this invention is to provide a coupling assembly which may be meshingly received onto the output gear of an engine without the need for a special adaptor so that as soon as one engine is uncoupled from the dynamometer another engine may be coupled thereto with a minimum of time lapse. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a coupling assembly where the clamping force may be controlled as a function of angular velocity. Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reference to the following description and disclosure.